Tag Archives: Constitutional Protection

November 13, 2017Comments Off on David Davenport: Balancing Religious Rights With Health Care1,889 Views

This is David Davenport of the Hoover Institution for Townhall.com.

Public policy is full of difficult dilemmas, tough cases where there are strong interests on both sides. Such dilemmas are not usually solved as much as they are managed.

That’s why two federal departments recently expanded the rights of religious employers. During the Obama years, the federal government had required religious employers to provide birth control coverage in their health insurance plans even when contrary to their religious beliefs. And the government had limited the rights of religious employers to hire or favor people who shared their beliefs.

This action properly swings the pendulum back in favor of religious rights, which are protected by the First Amendment. Civil rights are also constitutionally protected, which is what creates the tension. In the end, both rights are powerful, but neither is absolute.

A liberal president pushes too far in one direction and a conservative administration appropriately pushes back. Ultimately, the Supreme Court may well have to decide how to manage this difficult dilemma.